Ahead of their respective Euro 2024 qualifying games on Monday, Hungary and Estonia will do battle in an international friendly in Budapest on Thursday.
The hosts will be in action for the first time since November, while their visitors last played in January and both will aim to build confidence before beginning their qualifying bids next week.
Match preview
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Ahead of the beginning of their Euro 2024 qualifying campaign next week, Hungary will return to international action for the first time in five months, after most recently taking on Luxembourg and Greece in friendlies in November, with the Magyarok scoring a 2-1 victory over the latter thanks to goals from Roland Sallai and Zsolt Kalmar.
Prior to those games, Marco Rossi's men were in UEFA Nations League action throughout 2022 and impressed in a tough group alongside Italy, Germany and England, beginning with a 1-0 beating of the latter before suffering a defeat away at Italy.
After a draw with Germany, the Magyarok would post consecutive triumphs over England and Die Mannschaft, and only a 2-0 loss at home to Italy in the final round of games in September denied them top spot and a place in the Nations League finals.
On the back of that impressive campaign, Hungary now turn their attention to the upcoming European Championships, having been drawn in a group with Serbia, Montenegro, Lithuania and Bulgaria, beginning with a home contest against the latter on Monday, as they aim to reach the continental competition for a third consecutive time, after dropping out of the group stage in the previous edition of the tournament without putting a win on the board.
In their last outing before the commencement of qualifying, Rossi's side will be keen to pick up a victory on home turf on Thursday to build confidence in the camp.
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They meet an Estonian side who are also aiming to build confidence for the upcoming qualifying bid, having enjoyed an upturn in form in recent months with only one defeat in their last eight games - an eventual penalty shootout loss to Latvia in the Baltic Cup semi-finals in November following a 1-1 draw in normal time after they enjoyed a strong UEFA Nations League term, topping group D2 with a perfect record from their four games.
The Sinisargid then followed up that disappointment with a 2-0 beating of Lithuania in the third-placed playoff, before kicking off the new year with a trip to Portugal for two friendlies, firstly meeting Iceland who only denied them a victory in injury time as Andri Gudjohnsen levelled from the spot after Sergei Zenjov's opener.
They would round off that trip with a clash against Finland, and after it looked set to end goalless, Martin Miller got on the scoresheet six minutes from time to fire his nation to a victory and extend their positive run.
Now facing a tough Euro 2024 qualifying group alongside Belgium, Sweden, Azerbaijan and Austria, beginning with a trip to the latter next week, in their bid to reach a first ever European Championship group stage, Thomas Haberli's men will be keen to extend their run with what would be an impressive victory in Hungary.
Team News
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Hungary have called up a strong squad for the latest round of fixtures and will be captained by winger Dominik Szoboszlai, who has notched up five goals and 13 assists in 35 appearances for RB Leipzig in all competitions so far this term.
With striker Adam Szalai, who netted over 40 goals for the national team, now retired, Szoboszlai will likely play in support of Freiburg frontman Roland Sallai, while Adam Nagy is a particular mainstay in the engine room.
First-choice stopper Peter Gulacsi was unable to make the squad due to an injury, meaning Denes Dibusz should deputise between the sticks, while Gulasci and Szoboszlai's RB Leipzig teammate Willi Orban is the main man in defence and should be joined by Attila Szalai and Adam Lang in a back three.
Estonia's attack will be led by experienced striker Sergei Zenjov, who has netted 17 goals in 104 caps for his national team, with Rauno Sappinen likely joining him up front.
There is plenty of experience throughout their squad, with captain Konstantin Vassiljev boasting 148 caps and 26 goals in midfield, while full-back Taijo Teniste nearing 100 appearances for the Sinisargid, although 37-year-old former Liverpool centre-back Ragnar Klavan is no longer involved in the national team.
They should again line up in a 5-3-2 setup, with the captain set to be joined in the engine room by Nikita Vassiljev and Martin Miller.
Hungary possible starting lineup:
Dibusz; Szalai, Orban, Lang; Botka, Nagy, Kalmar, Kerkez; Szoboszlai, Sallai, Nemeth
Estonia possible starting lineup:
Hein; Teniste, Lipp, Tougjas, Mets, Tamm; N Vassiljev, K Vassiljev, Miller; Zenjov, Sappinen
We say: Hungary 3-0 Estonia
Hungary boast plenty of quality all over the pitch, and even without their first-choice goalkeeper, they should have more than enough to triumph on home turf in Thursday's friendly.
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